Policing Matters

Walking the beat is a fundamental element to community policing. Other forms of patrol aimed principally at community engagement have officers mounted atop equine partners, and rolling around town on tricked-out mountain bikes. In all these cases, officers on foot create opportunities for the public to connect with their police (and vice versa). Conversely, when officers are wrapped in two tons of metal and plastic, that opportunity for real connection is essentially lost. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the need for agencies to keep these types of patrol efforts well-staffed and supported.

Proponents of the First Step Act — a bipartisan law aimed at reforming the criminal justice system — say it would significantly improve the prison system. Opponents say there are loopholes that would allow dangerous criminals with a high probability to reoffend to be released from prison. The text of the law says that the BOP would adopt a risk assessment tool, assess all federal prisoners for their risk of recidivism, and categorize them as minimum, low, medium, or high risk. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the First Step Act.

Last year, rights groups and even Amazon employees and stockholders sought to stop that company from providing its Rekognition software to law enforcement agencies. By all accounts, that effort has failed, as police are using the software—as well as solutions from other vendors—more and more to identify wanted criminals, missing people and suspected terrorists spotted on video. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the use of the technology, its limitations, and its potential for the future.

Traffic stops are one of the most common activities for law enforcement officers on patrol. They are the epitome of proactive, self-initiated policing. They are also, however, sometimes deadly. Officers can be struck by passing vehicles, dragged by a vehicle fleeing the stop, assaulted physically either with personal weapons (fists and feet) or by weapons up to and including firearms. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the benefits of things like the passenger side approach and waiting for backup to arrive before even initiating the stop.

In New York, some 20,000 DUI arrests are in jeopardy because of false verifications due to aging and inaccurate equipment. Agencies are required to conduct regular maintenance of a variety of types of equipment, and yet it would appear that in some cases, that regular maintenance is not being conducted, putting not only convictions at risk, but possibly even lives. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the responsibility for agencies to check to be sure their gear is in good working order.

The end of the year is upon us, and looking back it is clear that 2018 zipped by like lightning. During the year, Jim and Doug covered many topics in the weekly Policing Matters podcast. In this special segment, the pair takes a look back at some of the trends and events that mattered in law enforcement in the past 12 months—from lip sync battles to policing the homeless to immigration enforcement.

Too often, when we get off work and out of whatever uniform we wear during the day (or night, depending on your assigned shift), one of the first things we do is to plop ourselves in front of a screen of some kind. We open up the laptop, the tablet, or even our phone, and voluntarily allow ourselves to be assaulted by millions of relentless pixels. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the benefits of "unplugging," such as strengthening interpersonal relationships, reducing overall stress, and increasing emotional intelligence. Unplugging can even lead to better physical fitness and weight loss.

The Camp Fire in Northern California is the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in the state's history. The entire town of Paradise was destroyed, displacing as many as 50,000 people who now find themselves homeless, possessing only the clothes they wore in the hasty exodus from the disaster area. Among those who lost all their material possessions are some of those first responders fighting the fire and delivering people to safety. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss how first responders deal with such massive operations.

Young people are on social media for many hours a day — posting on sites and apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Social media posts — even those that have been deleted — live forever, and inappropriate posts can have an adverse effect on a kid's future many years down the line. Furthermore, many online interactions can turn ugly. Too often, a social media post can influence young people to contemplate dying by suicide. In this podcast segment, Doug Wyllie sits down with Brentwood PD Officer Mitch Brouillette, who serves as the SRO at Heritage High School, to discuss a program he created — Pause Before You Post — aimed at keeping kids safer online.

Police officers have a unique opportunity to positively influence the lives of countless children — many of whom do not really have very many positive role models in their lives — to become productive members of society when they grow up. Significant opportunities exist for those officers to not just help kids see what "doing good" looks like, but to influence them to have the desire to "do good" themselves. In this podcast episode, Doug Wyllie sits again with Brentwood PD Officer Mitch Brouillette, who serves as the SRO at Heritage High School, to discuss how cops can be their department's best recruiters.

Officer Mitch Brouillette of the Brentwood, California Police Department was the subject of a heartwarming "practical joke" executed by the students of Heritage High School, resulting in a video posted to the Internet that quickly went viral. The students concocted an elaborate ruse, coupled with a live song and dance performance, as well as some incredibly thoughtful gifts in thanks to "Officer Mitch" for all the things he does for them. In this podcast episode, Brouillette sits down with Doug Wyllie at the school to describe that day.

The Ninth Circuit Court of appeals unanimously ruled in favor of a lawsuit by people experiencing homelessness that challenges laws making it illegal to sleep on public property overnight. The constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment prohibits "criminal penalties for sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter," the court said in its decision. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss how the decision could impact cities with sit/lie laws, which prohibit sitting or lying on the sidewalk.

The California Legislature recently passed (and Gov. Jerry Brown then vetoed) a controversial piece of legislation — Assembly Bill 186 — that would have allowed entities to open so-called "safe injection sites" — facilities where drug users would be able to shoot up in an enclosed environment supervised by medical professionals on the lookout for signs of overdose. The trouble is, doing so is in direct contravention with Federal law. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the reasons such sites are not a good approach to solving the opioid epidemic.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is defined as a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design. CPTED strategies rely upon the ability to influence offender decisions that precede criminal acts by affecting the built, social and administrative environment. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss how architecture and landscaping, outdoor lighting, and other environmental elements can help to reduce crime.

There is no argument that police pursuits can sometimes end in fatal collisions — crashes that kill fleeing suspects, police officers, and innocent bystanders. Police pursuits are an inherently dangerous endeavor. As some police agencies examine "no pursuit" policies, others are looking at new GPS tracking technologies that allow police to drop back and watch a monitor for where the suspect vehicle ends up. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the technology — the potential upside as well as some minor flaws.